Phrenic nerve palsy during cryoballoon ablation of atrial fibrillation: a minor complication or a wolf in sheep's clothing? Insights on late arrhythmia recurrences from a propensity score-matched analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) has become the cornerstone of percutaneous atrial fibrillation (AF) treatment, and cryoballoon ablation (CB-A) has been shown to be non-inferior to radiofrequency (RF) ablation in terms of safety and efficacy. Hemi diaphragmatic paralysis, secondary to right phrenic nerve palsy (PNP), is the most common complication associated with cryoballoon ablation, occurring in 1.1%-6.2% of procedures. Although, in the literature, PNP appears to not jeopardize the acute electrical isolation of the right-sided pulmonary veins, its occurrence forces the electrophysiologist to immediately stop cryoenergy delivery, thus resulting in a shorter cryo-application time.

Aims

The purpose of the analysis is to understand whether the occurrence of intraproc

SUBMITTER: Cecchini F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12515864 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature